Political Theater at the Burien Council Meeting

On August 19, 2024 at the Burien City Council meeting, political theater ensued as activists made a redundant presentation of legal documents.

During the public comment, Stephen Lamphear began to speak, Charles Schaefer rapidly approached the dais without permission or invite from the Burien City Council. As he began his approach, Mayor Kevin Schilling firmly directed Mr. Schaefer "please do not approach the dais" several times. Schilling stated this was "totally unacceptable," and asked for a five minute recess.

Mr. Schaefer quickly, and without permission, presented the Motion to Intervene to each councilmember by swiftly thrusting documents towards each person on the dais. Two of the documents fell to the ground in front of CM Linda Akey and CM Stephanie Mora.

Mr. Schaefer was escorted out of the meeting by Interim Burien Police Chief Calabrese, however, observers reported that Schaefer returned to the meeting once the five-minute recess had ended.

After the five minute recess, Lamphear continued to discuss the lawsuit against the city and four of the councilmembers (Schilling, Akey, Andrade, Mora) regarding the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). Lamphear chided the councilmembers that "tossed away" a legal document, stating that he "anticipated" it, which is why he told them that they have also been sent this information via email.

Here is the statement from the City of Burien on Monday's incident:

“The City of Burien is committed to ensuring the safety of its staff, councilmembers, and community members is prioritized during any public event or meeting.

“Unauthorized individuals may not approach the dais during the course of a city council meeting. Continuing to violate meeting rules of order and multiple direct warnings from the meeting chair constitutes disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor crime under the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 9A.84.030.

“The two individuals involved in the unlawful incident and violation of RCW 9A.84.030 that occurred during last night’s Burien City Council meeting, Charles Schaefer and Stephen Lamphere [sic], have been referred to the Burien Police Department for further legal action.”

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